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Summary: Thank goodness I am a vegetarian
Review: I just want to say thank goodness I'm a vegetarian. It blows my mind that hamburgers pass through a metal detector!!!! Scary!But even worse are the dangerous working conditions!!!! Unbeleivable! Eric needs to write a follow up on tips for readers who want to help. (I guess the first step is to stop buying the meat, ew).
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Summary: You are what you eat?
Review: Eric Schlosser understands why Americans consume so much fast food: it's cheap, convenient, and it tastes good. However, the money we hand over the fast-food counter does not reflect the true cost of the meal. Schlosser wants us to understand these costs so that we can make an informed decision the next time we decide where to buy our food. In some ways this is an easy book to read and in some ways it is very difficult. Schlosser is an excellent writer--he knows how to create the narrative tension helpful even in a non-fiction book. There are some interesting digressions, but they always lead back to a point he's making. What makes this book difficult to read are some of the horrific stories it contains--for example, the stories of what happens to the people who work in slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants--the lacerations, amputations, asphyxiations, and even crushed heads. If anything, conditions for meatpackers have gotten worse since Upton Sinclair's 1907 novel "The Jungle". Most Americans eat fast food, and many Americans even enjoy it. I certainly did. But reading this book has given me a better understanding of the environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of fast-food culture. It has also opened my eyes to saddening and alarming information about worker and food safety. I don't want to eat ground beef that may be tainted with E.coli, and I certainly don't want my dollars to support an industry that treats its workers like fodder. Eric Schlosser has done the world a great service by writing this book. Anyone who eats fast food--and that's almost every American--should read "Fast Food Nation". The book ends on a hopeful note: as consumers, we have the economic power to prompt the industry to change. An INFORMED consumer is the basis of a free-market society, and Schlosser has done his part to get us informed.
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Summary: A Wake Up Call
Review: This book clearly defines todays USA culture...but the author goes deeper than the common knowledge problems of fast food...he cuts right into the mindset of the corporate goals who promote this stuff. The goal is cheap products at ALL COST..and the consequences as such from the animals used to the beef processing to expendible people...its downright criminal whats been going on... And yet the corporate attitude from these businesses is that government is just SO BAD yet these same hypocrites will be subsidized from the government to peddle their products...the book clearly elaborates on all this... My USA citizens...you get what you pay for...and its time to wake up...this book MUST be required material in high schools...be smart and read this book TODAY...
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Summary: absolutely amazing
Review: this book was remarkable - filled with horrifying information about everything from profits, franchises and employees to walks through cattle ranches, feedlots, and meatpacking companies - all now huge corporations by demand from fast food, a tragic seperation from the image of "the american backbone". Extremely readable and very difficult to put down, Eric Schlosser astounds the reader, clearly explaining how there can be so much death and vileness in america's favorite meal.
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Summary: THIS IS AN IMPORTANT BOOK!
Review: This has got to be one of the most important books I've read since I finished MAD COWBOY. Read this one, pass it around, tell everyone you know about it and then write your congressman! This is a book that will change your perspective and demand that you act, because doing nothing would be worse than a crime especially where the basic rights of workers in this country are concerned.
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Summary: Time to Change
Review: I was incredibly moved by "Fast Food Nation". I'm so inspired by what I read that I plan to buy several copies and distribute them among my friends. I'm also planning to e-mail everyone I know about this book... I'm fairly convinced that "Fast Food Nation" will make its mark as one of the most important works of truth telling in a very long time. As consumers, we have tremendous voting power with our dollars. I'm a believer in Eric Schlosser's vision for a better nation and world... a little shift in consumer preferences will go a long way. Thank you Eric for a job very well done!
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Summary: Don't worry, this book isn't trying to turn the world vegan
Review: This book is about so much more than fast food itself. What I found most moving was how the people employed by our "Fast Food Nation" are treated. And he's not just talking about people who work in the fast food restaurants. Wait till you read the part about the meat packing plants. You think you'll be shocked by how they treat the animals, but how the humans are treated will bring you to tears. The author obviously took great pains in his research. He tries to look at all aspects of the fast food world - giving all sides their opportunity to speak. He's not purposly playing the emotion card - but it's hard not to become emotional when such obvious wrongs are being done. On a side note - I don't reccomend reading this before you go to bed! Uhg, the dreams.
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Summary: Fast Food Nation
Review: The other reviews have said it all--it is a must read. I hope industry regulators or those who can make some needed changes, read this book.
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Summary: Planet to go with that Burger?
Review: Years ago, American society was captivated by the banal slogan, "If it feels good, do it." To a large degree, this credo was the simple-minded creation of youth culture - the "heavy user" demographic so precious to purveyors of fast food. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, with its numerous indictments and horror-stories about the fast food industry, will have a negligible impact on this group of consumers. Therein lies the great psychological insight of this book. Human Beings seem incapable of caring about the long-term effects of their actions. Yes, it appears that fast food is harmful to our physiology and planet alike. Try convincing people to take care of their own bodies, let alone be responsible stewards of the planet... I have spoken to many friends about some of the more dramatic charges in Fast Food Nation. Manual removal of cow stomachs that cause the spillage of feces and disease-laden meat?Well, I was told, you wouldn't order a prime rib steak in a restaurant if the menu said, " a hunk of dead meat ripped off a castrated bull." That's just reality, I ws told, and we have become inured to these things because we do most of our shopping in sterile, antiseptic supermarkets. Processed food is leeched of its natural flavours and aromas and the fast food industry relies on chemists to "reinstall" these gastronomic markers? So what, I was told. Do you honestly think that you can enjoy the same taste and smell of a favorite burger in over 100 countries by any other means? And the FDA approves flavoring additives, so what's the concern? It's not as if we eat this stuff at every meal. Fast Food Nation horrifies and terrifies. It is not just about what we do, but more urgently, what we don't do. And how long our bodies and our planet can withstand the combined assault and neglect.
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Summary: The Hidden Costs of Mass Consumption of Fast Food
Review: If you ever eat in fast food restaurants, you should read this book. It will fill your mind with issues that probably had not occurred to you before. The fast food industry today is the service equivalent of the harshest environments of industrial America. The industry's size creates behemoths among its suppliers who can be even more aggressive in cost-cutting than are the employers of your neighboring teenagers. This book recounts the many dangers and hidden costs this industry imposes on everyone in our society, and suggests some ways to improve. The best defense, however, is a discerning consumer. Read this book to help become one. Mr. Schlosser begins with the founding of the modern fast food companies, and traces them all back to Richard and Maurice McDonald's first hamburger parlor on E Street in San Bernardino, California. Carl Karcher (Carl's Jr.), Glenn Bell (Taco Bell), and the founder of Dunkin' Donuts all visited there and designed their stores to take advantage of those ideas about achieving higher throughput and consistency. Naturally, Ray Kroc later came along to refine the practices into the foundations of the modern McDonald's. With success came market power, and abuses of that power. The book looks at several ills that have resulted. For example, the cost of meat needs to be as low as possible. This has led to dangerous conditions where many people are injured in the slaughter houses. His story of Kenny Dobbins at Montfort will chill you forever. The industry has also succeeded in getting inspection standards reduced so more harmful bacteria are making their way into your meal, and more people are getting sick. The old and the young are most likely to be harmed by the rapid growth of E. coli 0157:H7. This hit home with me, having just suffered a bout of food poisoning after a fast food meal last week. The Federal Government buys meat for school children with lower quality standards for bacterial contamination than even the fast food people apply. Pressure from slaughter houses on ranchers has driven many out of the business. The human price can be high, as one story recounts here. The food is harmful in other ways. It is full of sugar and fat (that's what makes it taste good). The growth in obesity (what some people call an epidemic in America) closely tracks the expansion of fast food meals (25% of the population will eat at least one weekly). And the trend is getting worse, now that you can have unlimited refills of sugared soft drinks. Children are especially vulnerable, because advertising is so persuasive to them. As a result, they go to eat the meals in search of toys and games, and other novelties. Teenagers are often employed in fast food parlors in violation of the child labor laws, costing them sleep, exposing them to late night dangers, and leaving them too tired to focus on school. Those who deliver the food often create accidents and are at risk to be robbed. The physical appearance and culture of towns is brought to the lowest common denominator by the drive to produce these meals fast and cheaply. If the local management isn't very good, goofing off employees have been known to put noxious substances into the food. Franchisees often work long hours, costing them a normal life. Carl Karcher reported that he was still heavily in debt after 50 years in the industry. The main sign of progress he told the author was that the road outside used to be dirt, and was now paved. These ills are being transported around the world now, as fast food is globalized. Mr. Schlosser has several suggestions for improvement including tougher regulation of food, working conditions, and of advertising to children (he wants it banned). I thought his most realistic suggestion was that the fast food companies themselves lead the way by raising standards. McDonald's has done this in the past (to its credit), and could certainly do so again. After the facts in this book are more widely know, it is highly likely that there will be an interest in eating food from restaurants that provide these meals in more socially productive and humane ways. I know that I would shift my purchasing to reflect such improved standards. To me, the interesting part of this story is that the problems exposed here are not hidden. This book could have been written at any time in the last 40 years. Why do we turn a blind eye to the problems that fast food creates? After you finish this interesting and thorough book, I suggest that you consider where else problems exist that we do not pay attention to. For example, where does the sewage from your town go? What are the implications of how it is disposed of? Where does your trash go? What problems does that create? What are the pollution effects of your new SUV? How much more likely is your family to be injured or killed because it could roll over? Consider all the costs of the products and services you consume, not just the ones you pay for directly to the person who sells to you.
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